Arthur and Guinevere: Those Sweet Simple Times
by Taylor Jae
Summary: Sequel to Arthur and Guinevere: A Love Which Brings Light. As Arthur and Gwen tumble through Shayla's babyhood, they encounter joy, pain, and everything in between. In love as ever, they rule the kingdom of Camelot, along with help from Gaius, the knights, and of course, Merlin.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey, lovely readers! **

**Here's the first chapter of the second story. Hope you all enjoy! **

**Disclaimer: nope on Merlin, nope of Bradley. As usual. **

Arthur and Guinevere: Those Sweet Simple Times

Chapter 1

A few days after Shayla's birth, Gwen is back in the Royal Chambers, after having been cleared by Catherine and Gaius that it was OK to return there. Her movements are slow and labored-no pun intended. She is sore, sore, hurting all over. More tired than she thought too, drained by the mere action of doing anything and everything regular. Or make that irregular. She'd never been a mother before.

This strikes her, the tiredness, and frustrates her, when she looks to the timepiece to see that it's already one in the afternoon, and to see that she has just woken up. She must've fallen back into sleep after Shayla's last feeding only a couple of hours ago. She sighs, tries to get out of bed, wonders with a start where her husband and daughter have gone. Already their chambers feel eerily empty without the sounds of Shayla. Arthur happens to come in just as she is attempting to stand. Seeing her, he rushes over, helps her out by putting her arm over his shoulder. She slumps against him, the energy sapped out of her already.

"Take it easy," Arthur cautions, and Gwen responds with a nod and a tight grimace. He can hear her take a sharp intake of breath, sees her wince. "What was your plan here, exactly?" He asks gently.

"I was just trying to stand up, to get out of bed for a moment, but now..." She shakes her head. "Help me," she says helplessly, and Arthur takes that as permission to help her back into bed, even though they just spent all that time getting out of it. She winces again and he knows they've done the right thing. "How's Shayla?" Gwen asks as he helps settle her back against the pillows.

"Don't worry about Shayla," Arthur says. "She's still with Gaius."

"She'll need to be fed soon."

"I know," Arthur answers. "But until then, you can sleep."

"And where will you be?"

"Why, here, of course," Arthur answers. He sits next to her on the bed. At that, Gwen musters up the energy for a small smile. She reaches for his hand just as he reaches for hers.

"Thank you," she says tiredly, already slipping back into sleep.

"For you, Guinevere, anything," Arthur says, as he always does, and that's the last thing she hears before sleep claims her.

A/G*A/G

A while later, Gwen awakes again. Seeing this, Arthur goes down to Gaius' chambers to get Shayla. He smiles to himself when he gets there. Gaius and Merlin have had fun having her there for the last few days or so, though they'd never say so. Shayla stayed there so Gaius could make sure she was fairing all right; several times during this period she was brought back and forth, to eat and sleep and be with Arthur and Gwen. The guards had been doubled near both Gaius' chambers and especially near the Royal Chambers. The guards would always be doubled near the Royal Chambers from now on. Tonight was to be the first night she spent in the Royal Chambers, in the bassinet by their bed. She would then spend all of her nights there, after having been cleared by Gaius that she was in great health.

As the King steps inside the physician's chambers, Gaius puts a finger to his lips, indicating that the baby is asleep. Arthur eases his daughter into his arms.

"Hi, Shay," he whispers anyway, and her eyelids flutter open. She sees who it is, and they close again as she snuggles into the familiarity of her father's red runic.

"She is coming back, isn't she? You'll bring her back later?"

"Yes, Merlin."

"Good."

Arthur leaves Gaius' chambers, walks down the corridor, marveling at how light and small and delicate the baby is in his arms. A flank of knights comes up behind him then from another hallway, Leon at the front of them.

"Sire," he starts, and Arthur turns around slowly, and they quiet seeing Shayla. "It can wait until later," he says, whispering now.

"Are you sure? Because-

"I am," Leon says. "Go be with your family."

Arthur nods, and walks ahead of them, towards the Royal Chambers.

A/G*A/G

When he gets there, Gwen slowly rises from the rocking chair.

"Well, Miss Shayla, hello," she says in a whisper. A soft smile lights up her face as she is handed her daughter.

Shayla falls asleep on Gwen's lap after she's finished eating, and Gwen falls asleep too shortly after. Looking at them, at the two most precious people in his life, Arthur can't help but feel selfish. How did he get so lucky? To have Guinevere love him the way she did? And Shayla, how did she manage to be so much a part of him, already? To create this beautiful child together was a kind of happiness he had never wanted, until Gwen had entered his life.

And now, as he carefully picks up the baby, lays her in the bassinet, covers Gwen with a blanket now that his hands were free, he couldn't help but look around the Royal Chambers and feel like he didn't deserve all that he had.

A/G*A/G

Later that evening, Gwen and Arthur's discussion of a document is interrupted by a knock on the door of the Royal Chambers. It is Gaius, carrying Shalya. She had been down in his and Merlin's chambers for the past few hours, much to Merlin's delight. She didn't do much else besides sleep-sometimes she cried-but for some reason, Merlin enjoyed watching her, watching over her. Gwen starts to rise from the rocking chair at the physician's arrival, but he stops her, puts a hand up.

"Don't get up. I just came to see how you were, and to bring Shayla back for the night." Gwen nods, accepts her daughter into her arms. "Still sore?" Gaius asks.

"Very," Gwen replies, trying to smile and not quite making it.

"If it doesn't diminish in a couple of weeks, let me know. I've got a tincture I think would help." Gwen nods again. "If you feel light-headed, send for me, immediately." Gwen nods. Arthur comes over to them now from where he had been sitting at his desk, puts his hand on the back of the rocking chair and stands by it.

"Why would that happen?" Gwen asks carefully. "Why would I get light-headed?"

'You lost a lot of blood," Gaius starts, to see Gwen's eyes widen a little. "Not more than any other woman who's given birth to a child, but a good amount. In saying that, you may feel light-headed. It's just something to be aware of."

Gwen nods. "Anything else I should know about?"

"Try to drink as much water as you can. Eat when you can. Get as much sleep as you can." At that, Gaius smiles, looks down at the baby in Gwen's arms. "I know that last request will be a tough one to fulfill."

"You're telling me," Arthur says quietly, flatly, making Gwen turn and swat him playfully on the arm with one hand, Shayla in the crook of her other arm.

"All first-time parents go through this," Gaius assures them. "It's perfectly natural to feel exhausted. In fact, I'd say that's the job description of a new parent."

"Great," Arthur and Gwen say together. They turn to one another and smile, look down to Shayla and smile again.

"Thank you," Gwen says then.

"Yes, thank you, Gaius," Arthur says.

"I'll leave the three of you now. Let me know if there's anything I can do to help, or anything you need."

"We will," Gwen says. "Thank you, again."

The physician nods, leaves, closing the door of the Royal chambers softly behind him.

After Gwen feeds Shayla once more, she is put to bed in the bassinet by their bed. Arthur and Gwen watch her settle so easily into sleep.

"It's just the three of us now," Arthur says, echoing Gaius' words, drawing his wife close to him, wrapping an arm around her waist. She rests her head on his shoulder. They are silent for a few moments, listening to the baby's steady breathing.

"Indeed it is," Gwen replies, yawning. "The three of us."


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey, hey, lovely readers! **

**Thanks so much for the wonderful two reviews thus far for this second story. Thanks also to those who reviewed on the ending of A Love Which Brings Light; I am so glad you've all enjoyed the story as much as I did, and I hope you'll enjoy this one just as much. **

**Disclaimer: Merlin isn't mine, Bradley isn't mine. Should we even be surprised at this anymore? :) **

**Anyway, enough about that; enjoy chapter 2 and thanks for reading! **

Arthur and Guinevere: Those Sweet Simple Times

Chapter 2

A few weeks pass. Shayla makes herself known, her cries splintering the quiet of the night with much frequency. But, it's what babies do, and so Arthur and Gwen willingly take turns getting up with her at night and during the day.

One morning, Arthur and Merlin walk into the Royal Chambers. Arthur puts his finger to his lips, indicating that the baby is or might be asleep. He never knew which it was going to be on any given day, and it was always better to be safe than sorry as far as Shayla's sleep schedule was concerned. Merlin nods, puts a finger to his lips too, implying that he'll be quiet for once. Arthur nods and they step inside to see both Gwen and Shayla curled up and sleeping on the bed. They had spent many happy mornings snuggled together, doing that whole mother-baby bonding thing. Arthur had gotten in on some of that bonding too, but later in the day when he'd take an hour for lunch, and then during the evenings when things were done for the day.

Arthur smiles seeing his wife and daughter. He indicates to Merlin with hand gestures that he would grab some papers and be off again, but Gwen's eyes shoot open as he does this, despite how quiet he tried to be, her hearing already attuned for any sound out of the norm.

"Hi," she says blearily. She smooths her nightdress, looks down to the sleeping baby in her lap. She picks Shayla up, the child's head resting on her shoulder. Gwen rubs the baby's back, lulling her back to sleep, sorry for the interruption, puts her in the basinet so she may finish her nap. "What are you boys up to?"

"I came to grab my papers for the council meeting," Arthur answers.

"Oh, the council meeting," Gwen says, remorse in her voice. "I completely forgot."

"Good. Because I wasn't going to let you come anyway." She makes a face at this but lets him continue talking. Seeing her face, he backtracks, says, "I mean, you don't have to. I mean, I figured you would stay here with Shayla. I'll come back right after for lunch."

"OK," she says easily, baby beating council meeting, and leans in and hugs him, kisses his cheek. "I realized I never said good morning to you yet. Or make that, actual morning. Not the four AM kind."

"Good morning to you too, Guinevere. Good-morning, Shay," Arthur says too, in a whisper now, making Gwen smile.

A/G*A/G

"How do you manage to stay so together?" Merlin asks after they've left the Royal Chambers and are walking down the hall. "You look so much less...exhausted than Gwen does. If it were me and I was getting up with my baby every night, I'd be falling down, I'd be so tired."

"That's because you're you, Merlin. Me, I can handle not sleeping for many nights in a row." Melin gives him a look that says he doesn't buy it.

"It's been a month. I doubt even you could keep it together that long."

Arthur relents and says, "Don't tell anyone, but I may have accidentally fallen asleep in the council chambers yesterday after a meeting."

"I know, I was there. I woke you up, remember?"

"Oh, yes, that's right," the King replies, though he doesn't remember at all. If he's being honest, the tiredness has been seeping into the rest of his life, has been doing so for the past month or so since Shayla was born. And if he's being honest, it was a surprise for him. "I knew having a baby meant you'd have to be up with the baby. But I didn't expect it to be so often. Guinevere tried to warn me about this a day or two after Shayla was born, but I-

"You didn't listen."

Arthur makes a face; Merlin laughs.

"No, I didn't," Arthur admits. "I should've known. Guinevere's right about most everything else, anyway."

Underneath the soft exterior of a husband who loved and a father who loved, Arthur was still the same stubborn man inside, sometimes. It took Gwen and Merlin and Gaius to steer him back where he needed to be.

"It'll get easier," Merlin offers.

"Let's hope so, for Guinevere's sake, mostly. She does more than me."

A/G*A/G

When he gets back to the Royal Chambers, Shayla is crying. Arthur and Merlin peer into the nursery to see Shayla on the changing table, Gwen peeling off one outfit, ready to exchange it for another. She is talking to the baby as she does this, cooing at her, trying to calm her down.

"I know, I know, it's OK," she says, her voice soft and lovely. "I know, you're cold, but Shay, you just can't stay in an outfit you spit up in. I mean, OK, I suppose you could, but I guess I really don't want you to and I don't think you'd want to, either. I mean, if you did, you'd be ever more cold than you are at this moment, and I'll be quick about this, I promise-

Gwen stops talking seeing Arthur and Merlin.

"No, continue, please," Arthur says, coming over to his wife, squeezing her arm gently in affection. She smiles, blushes. She finishes buttoning the new clean outfit and picks Shayla up, hands her to Arthur, where she quiets down, is happy in her father's arms. "Is that really why she was crying?" Arthur asks now. "Because she was cold?"

"Yes," Gwen says. "That's why I handed her to you. You're warmer than me."

Arthur looks down at his daughter, smiles at her, at the fact that he is able to comfort her, help her to be warm when she is cold. It is a small thing like this that makes him think he'll be able to do this father thing, this caring for another human being thing. Because with Shayla OK and Gwen OK for the time being, he guesses he isn't doing too poor of a job.

A/G*A/G

About a week later, Gwen walks into Gaius' chambers, pushing Shayla in her pram. Gwen thought she looked awfully small in it, even with a blanket inside there with her. She knocks on the door, steps inside.

"Gaius?"

"Come in, Gwen." She does, wheels Shayla further into the main room. "Did that tincture help you?"

"Yes," Gwen answers. "I am not nearly so sore. Thank you."

"You're very welcome. Glad I could help you. Now, what did a busy person such as yourself need from me today?"

"Oh, I just came to bring back this-

Her sentence is broken off by a yawn. She covers her mouth, embarrassed. It is this, though, that causes Gaius to really look at her. She looks incredibly tired, bags beneath her eyes, the exhaustion so heavy he wonders how she remains upright.

It is this that causes Gaius to say, "Let me take Shayla."

"What? No. I'm fine."

"You are not fine. You're exhausted, Gwen. Let me take Shayla off your hands for a few hours."

"It's fine, really, I just came to bring you this," Gwen says, handing him a stack of papers.

"Well, thank you for that, but let me do something for you. Please, I'd love to watch Shayla."

"Gaius, you have patients, things to do. You don't need to be looking after my baby on top of all that."

"Gwen, I am asking you as your physician and your friend, you need to get some sleep. Some real, uninterrupted sleep."

She looks at him for a long moment, glances down at Shayla. "Well-

"She's sleeping now, she'll most likely stay sleeping. I'll bring her back when she needs to be fed. Just, please, for me if nothing else, let me take her for a while."

"OK," Gwen finally says. "Thank you, Gaius." She looks down to Shayla. "She should stay sleeping. If she doesn't, just-

"Trust me," Gaius says, putting a hand on her arm. "Are you forgetting I'm Court Physician, Gwen? I've done this many times." This makes a smile slip onto Gwen's tired face. "Shayla and I will be just fine together for a while." He puts his hands on her shoulders, guides her to the door.

"Thank you. Thanks for this," is the last thing she says before staggering out into the sunshine.

"Please, escort the Queen back to the Royal Chambers," Gaius tells the guards, and they do. He turns to look at the sleeping baby in the pram and smiles.

A/G*A/G

Shortly after lunch-after Gaius had taken Shayla to be fed by Gwen and convinced her to let him take Shayla for a little while more-Merlin comes upon him in the lower town. He is walking Shayla in her pram. She is awake, but quiet, content, looking around at everything.

"Um, what are you doing?"

"Haven't you ever seen a man push a pram before?"

"Yes," Merlin answers. "I've just never seen _you_ do it before. What are you doing with Shayla? Where are Arthur and Gwen?" His questions are asked with narrowed eyes, with the same tone in which he had said, "Gwen says you're cooking" all that time ago to Arthur.

"I sent Gwen back to her chambers when she came to see me earlier. She was like a walking zombie, she was so exhausted," Gaius replies. "Shouldn't you be able to answer the part about where Arthur is?"

"I'm supposed to be grabbing some more lances for Leon to train some new knights. Arthur's...somewhere. Look, I can take Shayla off your hands." Gaius looks hesitant. "I know you have patients to tend to, Gaius. Let me take her."

"Well, all right. But if Arthur needs you, feel free to send her back to me. We've had fun together, haven't we, Shayla?" He smiles at the baby.

"I'm sure you have," Merlin says. "Now it's my turn. Come on, Shay," he says, and he wheels away from Gaius.

A/G*A/G

A while later, Arthur comes upon Merlin-and Shayla.

"Merlin!" he calls, then automatically lowers his voice as he comes near the stroller. He picks Shayla up, puts a hand over her head in fatherly affection before holding her in his arms, leaving her so she was looking out at everything.

"What are you doing with my daughter? Where is Guinevere?" Merlin would laugh; the king's questions are asked in the same tone in which he asked his questions to Gaius earlier. They all much love Shayla that much to worry about her caretakers.

Merlin then explains about Gwen, then he explains about Gaius and the pram and then him and the pram up to now and Arthur and the pram.

"And so now I've had her for the last while or so, until you showed up, that is."

"I'll take her," Arthur says. He starts to walk away from Merlin, Shayla snuggling against his chest.

"But the meeting with the knights-

"She'll come with me," Arthur calls over his shoulder.

"Oh, all right," Merlin murmurs to himself. "This should be interesting," and he runs to catch up with the King.

A/G*A/G

"Sire, are you sure about this?"

This is asked by Leon when Arthur shows up to the meeting with his daughter in tow.

"I'm sure," Arthur answers sternly. "It'll be fine. She'll sleep for most of it. At least, that's what I'm hoping," he murmurs under his breath.

Seeing this, the knights-Gwaine, Leon, Percival, and others-play Pass The Baby for a good few minutes. Arthur and Merlin watch them very carefully, and it only takes a matter of minutes before Arthur takes her back in his arms. Though they were very gentle, his friends and knights, he is already very protective of Shayla and who handles her.

For the meeting, Arthur creates a kind of sling thing with the fabric of his cape so he can hold Shayla and she can be more comfortable. Her face is completely exposed, so she's in no danger of suffocating or anything like that. The knights smile when they see her little arms and hands raise up and down and flail about with her dreams, a tiny smile on her face. She is obviously content, and so Arthur is too, and so he conducts the meeting, walking the length of the long table where the knights sit behind, back and forth, back and forth. At one point, Shayla starts to make cute little baby noises in her sleep. Arthur stops talking, glancing down at her. "She's obviously bored by this. Do any of you feel the same?"

"No, Sire," the knights answer in unison, and then they all crack up-quietly of course.

"That's what I thought," Arthur answers jokingly, a smile on his face. He glances down at Shayla once more before continuing the meeting.

A/G*A/G

When the meeting is finished, Arthur turns to Merlin.

"Can you take her for a second?" He asks.

Merlin nods, accept Shay into his arms. Arthur lets down the sling he made with his cape, takes Shayla back. The knights watch Merlin and the King walk away. Seeing the outline of the small body of the baby against Arthur's chest reminds the knights that life as they knew it was over-in the greatest way possible.

A/G*A/G

When Arthur and Merlin arrive back in the RC, Gwen is waiting for them.

"Hello, my beautiful girl," she says, taking the baby into her arms. She holds Shayla up in the air, looks up at her before bringing her back down for a hug. "I missed you today, did you know that?" Gwen accepts Shayla's snuggling into her shoulder as a yes.

"You look better," Arthur remarks, smiling at her, kissing her cheek. "Happier."

"That's because I'm actually functioning, thanks to Gaius and his you-need-to-get-some-actual-sleep thing."

"And you got some, I'm assuming?"

Gwen nods. "Yes. A lot. It was wonderful."

"Good. I'm glad."

Arthur runs his hand over Shayla's head as she remains snuggled into Gwen's shoulder. Merlin watches them, feeling a strange mixture of happy and sad. For the first time since Shayla was born, to him, finally, the three of them look like a real family. That makes him happy. For the first time, in both the good and the bad, Merlin sees them for the family that they are. As he backs away towards the door, headed out of the Royal Chambers, Merlin feels alienated, not a part of this whole Shayla thing. That could make him unhappy and maybe on some level he is, but for the first time, he thinks he feels OK about that.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey, guys! **

**Back with another chapter. **

**Thanks for your reviews for chapter two. I especially enjoyed Sherri's review-so glad you've discovered this story, and hope you enjoy A Love Which Brings Light too. Thanks also for bringing attention to Arthur and Gwen's relationship-thanks so much for saying you enjoy how they are around each other. I enjoy it too. Their dialogue is my favorite part of most chapters, other than the the cute Shayla parts-and those two combined make up most chapters anyway! So, Sherri, this chapter is dedicated to YOU! Thanks for reading and hope you-and everyone-enjoys chapter three! **

**For this chapter I included more of Shayla's actions and mannerisms for the two-month-old baby that she is-it was a lot of describing; it's hard because I have no idea about any of this baby stuff, I'm still in school, I don't have children or anything like that. I looked info up on the internet, so hopefully it reads OK. **

**Disclaimer like always: don't own Merlin, Bradley has no idea of my existence-but hey, he was on Twitter again today! For multiple tweets! It made my day! **

**Hopefully this chapter will make yours. Thanks for reading and enjoy this chapter, guys. **

Arthur and Guinevere: Those Sweet Simple Times

Chapter 3

"Everything ready for Shayla's ceremony?"

"Yes, Sire."

"All the food, all the chairs? Everything's been moved into the council chambers as planned?"

"Yes, Sire."

"You're sure?"

"Yes, Sire."

Arthur doesn't know why he is asking these things, if only to confirm them. But still, he asks and gets answers. He is the King, after all. He has the right to ask anything as many times as he wishes, and as far as his daughter is concerned, he wants everything in order for her day.

When Arthur and Merlin arrive back to the RC, Gwen and Shayla are there as they always are. Arthur didn't realize how much he enjoyed coming home to them everyday until he got to do it everyday. He and Merlin walk further into the main room to see Gwen holding Shayla, her head on Gwen's shoulder, leaving Gwen's back to them, with Shayla looking out at them. When they enter, the baby perks up. Arthur smiles seeing her eyes widen at the sight of new people. Gwen senses this, turns the baby around as she turns around too.

"Well, look who it is," she intones happily, speaking to Shayla. "It's Daddy and Uncle Merlin." Gwen smiles as Shayla smiles. "Hmm, who should I go to?" Gwen says, speaking for Shayla again. Merlin gives Shayla a look that says, "Pick me! Pick me!" Arthur gives his daughter a look that says, "C'mon, Shay. Pick me. You know you want to."

"And, I think we'll go with..." Gwen milks the suspicion, smirks at her husband and best friend. Shayla reaches her little hands out towards Merlin. "Merlin!" Gwen finishes, plunking the baby-gently, of course-into Merlin's arms. "Good choice, Shay," she says. Arthur rolls his eyes.

"Ha-ha," Merlin says, smirking.

"Arthur, I'm sorry," Gwen says, smiling at her husband, trying not to laugh. "I gave her to Merlin because I figured you'd want to work on your speech for the ceremony."

"That won't be necessary," Arthur replies. "I'll just do an opening, a greeting, and blather on about how great Shayla is for however long. That's not hard."

"Oh, well, good," Gwen says, kissing him on the cheek. "And, you shouldn't feel too badly. It's not so ha-ha, as Merlin says," Gwen says now, turning to look at Shayla. "She was fussy with me earlier."

Now Arthur looks at Merlin, smirks and says, "How do you like that, Merlin?"

Merlin ignores the King, looks to the baby instead. "We're not fussy now, are we, Shay?" Merlin says. "No. We're happy now, right?" He looks down at the child again. Her eyelids begin to droop and within seconds she is asleep against Merlin's chest. "Or, sleepy. That too."

Gwen smiles. "We're hoping if she sleeps now she'll stay awake for the ceremony."

Merlin nods. "That's OK by me."

"She'll sleep, she'll eat, then she'll be ready," Gwen says. "You, Miss Shayla, are running the show already and you don't even know it." She and Arthur and Merlin look down at the child, who is oblivious to everything Gwen just said, and they look up at one another and smile.

A/G*A/G

With Shayla napping, Arthur checks on things for the ceremony one last time. It won't be for another hour or two, but so far things appear to be in order. Probably because he and Gwen and Leon set most everything up already. If they'd had Merlin do it, it would've been a very different story, surely.

On the way back to the Royal Chambers, Arthur walks through the lower town, feeling the way he always does when he is down there: lucky to be a ruler to these kinds of people. He passes Gwen's old little brown house-Catherine's place of residence now, after Leeda-and feels a mixture of both happy and sad because of that. He's glad the usual flank of guards aren't behind and in front of him. He only requests that when he has Shayla, and sometimes not even then. On his own, the people actually smile at him, feel as though they can approach him. He tries to ignore the momentary standstill and hush that falls over them as he walks by-he hadn't come here to interrupt anything.

As he thinks this, a girl runs up to him, her little feet padding on the gravel as she does so.

"Sire," she says, and he looks down to see her there. She must be about four or five, with big blue eyes, brown curly hair. "I've something for the princess," the girl says, and Arthur squats down to be eye-level with her.

"Thank you very much," the King says as he is handed a bright pink flower and a small hand-knit handkerchief.

"The flower's from me. I can't sew yet like Mommy," the girl explains, blushing, shy now.

"Your flower is a fine present," Arthur assures her, putting a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sure Shayla will appreciate it."

"You think so?" The girl's eyes widen more. "Really?"

Arthur nods. "I really do."

"Yay," the girl replies, and she can't help but hop and skip a little where she stands. Arthur stands up as what looks like the girl's mother comes near them. He recognizes her, it is Martha, one of the women Gwen likes to talk to here.

"Sorry about this, Sire," Martha says. "My daughter, she just loves the princess." This could make Arthur uncomfortable, but he knows what she means. Nobody has seen her yet! How can Shayla be already loved by so many who do not know her? The only time Shayla has been out of the citadel is when she is with Gaius, or her jaunt in the lower town recently with Gaius and then Merlin. Other than that, she has been under close watch and under wraps for the most part, leaving the townspeople anxiously awaiting today, when they will receive the first actual glimpse of the princess.

"It's all right," Arthur replies. "We've had a nice chat, haven't we?"

The girl beams up at him in reply, nods.

"Well, I'm sure you have," Martha says to her daughter, "but we don't need to be bothering the King anymore. He's got a lot to do in preparing for the princess's ceremony."

The girl nods again.

"Thank you again for the presents," Arthur says. "Can I have your name so I can tell Shayla who they're from?"

"I'm Anna," the girl replies in all seriousness, her eyes wide. "My name's Anna."

"It was a pleasure to meet you, Anna," Arthur says, putting a hand on her shoulder again. "Martha." Arthur says, nodding chivalrously.

"Thank you, Sire," Martha says. "Thank you for being so kind to her."

"'It was my pleasure," Arthur assures her, and the both of them. "I should be the one thanking Anna. It is she who has shown kindness."

With one last look he walks away from them, thinking of Gwen and Shayla.

A/G*A/G

When Arthur returns to the RC, there is no one in the main room. He peers into the nursery, where Gwen is with Shayla, who is awake now. Gwen is dressed for the ceremony, in the cream-colored gown she wore for the holiday banquet, the empire waist with the band of crystals still looking pretty on Gwen's now-slimmer figure, along with the elegant bell sleeves and elaborate neckline. The dress looks as pretty in July as it did back in December. Arthur quickly dresses in his best as well, his chainmail cleaned and his armor polished, his crown on his head and everything. He has yet to don his red cape and Gwen had yet to put on her crown. He goes into the nursery when he is finished.

"Shayla, look at this," Arthur says in an excited voice to get her attention. He's noticed lately the tone of voice is important to her, that the more animated someone sounds, the better. "Presents!" He holds up the bright pink flower and the baby's eyes widen in delight. She reaches out to grab it and she and Arthur hold onto the flower together. After a few seconds, Arthur gently pries the flower free from Shayla's grasp.

"Who are those from?"

"A little girl named Anna," Arthur answers.

"Martha's daughter," Gwen says, nodding. Arthur nods too. "That's so thoughtful of them."

"I thought so too."

"Oh, Shayla," Gwen says then. "Speaking of pretty, thoughtful things, look at this." She holds up the long pretty gown Shayla will wear for the ceremony with one hand, keeping a hand on the baby with the other. Shayla looks unimpressed at the long, elaborate cream-colored garment decorated with many ruffles and pretty detailing, but Gwen says anyway, "You are going to be one beautiful baby, you know that?"

"She already is," Arthur answers, leaning against the doorframe of the nursery.

"I second that," Gwen says, turning her head to look at her husband, standing the child up with both hands. She leans down and gives Shayla a kiss on her soft baby head. Arthur comes over, takes Gwen's place at holding Shayla up, so Gwen can slip the elaborate gown over her head. When it is on, Arthur lifts the baby up, holding her out in front of himself, so Gwen can smooth the gown, make it look the way she wants it to look. "She looks like you, you know," Gwen says thoughtfully after a moment.

"Hmm," Arthur says in thought too, jokingly. "I don't know if I should be offended or defensive of Shayla's femininity."

Gwen swats him playfully on the arm with one hand. "I didn't mean it like that," she laughs. "I meant she looks like you, in a good way. She has your nose, your smile."

"She has your eyes, though, Guinevere," Arthur says. "Soul eyes, I swear it. Like she already knows so much."

"I think maybe she does," Gwen answers, looking seriously at her daughter. Then she smiles, says, "But who I am kidding? I'm biased. I'm her mother."

"And I'm her father," Arthur says, smiling, settling Shayla into his arms, taking her with him, twirling her carefully around the room in a slow lazy circle. "And I think she does know many things already. But then again, I'm probably biased too."

"I'd say that's OK," Gwen says when he and Shayla come to a standstill again.

"I'd say that too."

Gwen laughs. At that moment, a knock sounds from the main room. "Enter," Arthur calls, and Sir Leon steps inside.

"Sire," he says. "My lady. Everything is all ready. All we need is you two. And Shayla of course. Are you ready?"

"We are," Gwen says, running a hand over Shayla's head, smoothing her hair lovingly.

"Then let's go then," Sir Leon says, and they do after Gwen puts on her crown and Arthur puts on his cape while Leon holds Shayla. After, they are officially ready and so the four of them walk out of the Royal Chambers and down the hall, Shayla back in the King's arms, her eyes wide, searching, looking at everything as it passes before her. When they arrive in the throne room, there is much commotion and many people, leaving Shayla turning her head in towards Arthur's chest. He runs a hand over her head in fatherly affection.

"It's OK, Shay," he whispers. "I've got you."

She brightens when she sees the familiar faces of her mother, of Gaius, of Merlin. Arthur carries her around nonchalantly for a while, and at one point when they're near Merlin again, she reaches her hands out towards him again, and she practically tumbles into his arms for a good few minutes while Arthur and Gwen get things settled. Arthur doesn't even say thanks because it's a given, that Merlin cares for Shayla too. That's better than any politeness he could have exhibited. And it's not like he ever really does that anyway.

"Wow, Shay," Merlin says to her, jostling her in his arms slightly to make her happy. "All of this for you." She nods happily, not understanding but content anyway.

After a few minutes, Gwen takes Shayla back in her arms and then everyone gets into place. Merlin and Gaius stand in the front row of the people of the court, the knights behind them, the people of Camelot on one side and the people who have traveled for the ceremony on the other side of the room. Arthur and Gwen stand at the front with Geoffrey, Gwen jostling Shayla like Merlin had done.

"Friends, family, honored guests," Geoffrey starts, looking around at everyone in the room. "The King and Queen of Camelot would like to thank all of you for coming to celebrate the presentation of their daughter, Princess Shayla Pendragon. At this time, the King would like to give a brief opening statement. Arthur?"

"Thank you, Geoffrey," Arthur says, smiling at the man who had overseen every important ceremony in his life. "Thank you to all those who have traveled to be here today, and thank you for those who came right from the lower town." At this, Catherine smiles from her place next to Percival, glances over at the royalty on the other side of the aisle. "I am thankful to all of you, for taking time out of your day to celebrate with Guinevere and myself on the birth of our daughter, Shayla." At this, everyone claps, quietly. Everyone beams up at the baby in Gwen's arms and the Queen smiles warmly at them on her daughter's behalf. "We know this has been a much-awaited day, for you as it has been for us as parents. Let the day be filled with much laughter and joy and many thanks for all those who have helped Guinevere and myself up until this point. Taking care of a baby isn't as easy as it looks, you know." This makes everyone laugh. "Still, it is completely worth it, Shayla is a wonderful child, a delight, and I can't help but think once you meet her you'll be thinking the same too."

Everyone cheers, claps again. Arthur's gaze sweeps over to Gwen and she knows they're both thinking about how biased they are as the parents of Shayla, wonderful Shayla whom they adore and love so. She is of them, so much a part of them they fail to remember what life had been like before she came into the picture.

"And now," Geoffrey says, "Camelot's Liaison of Magic and one of the King and Queen's most trusted friends and advisors would like to say a word about the Princess. Merlin?"

"Thank you, Geoffrey," Merlin says in his cheerful way, his eyes sparkling the way they always do. "Shayla is already, as the King mentioned, a wonderful child. Though born barely eight weeks ago, I know already she is going to change and shape the future of this land as we know it after the great legacy her parents continue to lead us towards." There is more clapping, more cheering. Gwen smiles at him. Arthur tries to look like he doesn't want to do the same. "Only a few days after Shayla was born, hardly a week later, Gwen and Arthur came to talk to me about magic's role in her life, magic's role in the life of Camelot hereafter my ceremony and being sworn in as Camelot's Liaison of Magic. I told them the same thing I will tell you now. It's a very simple thing, really: I have hope. I have great optimism and hope for the future of this land, with magic as a powerful force for good alongside the careful guidance of the King and Queen. I told Arthur and Gwen I plan to do my part in raising Shayla in the realm of magic, committed to teach her about this new thing, about magic. I told them I would not educate her on how to use magic, but merely about it. The King and Queen have asked this of me as well, to teach them about magic, about the role it can afford to play here in our beloved kingdom of Camelot. I told them that I would, and that I will, teaching them and teaching Shayla, when she is ready. I want magic to be around her, a good thing in her life, something to accept, not to fear. In that respect, Arthur and Gwen have something to say about Shayla's future role in Camelot."

Arthur steps up again. "He is right, Merlin is. I wish magic to be force for good, something Shayla can grow to appreciate. Something that will fill her with wonder. In this way, she will grow up very differently than the childhood I or Morgana had. Hopefully she will grow up to be a good Princess, and later a fair and just Queen when she is of age. After all, Shayla is the official heir of Camelot, heir to the throne after Guinevere and myself are no longer able to assume such positions." There is a murmur about the room now. _Shayla, heir to the throne? _This had never been done before. "Though this day is a happy one, I feel saddened when I think of the goodness and compassion Morgana could have exhibited had she been given the chance, had magic been something positive, had my father been honest with her. I wish to be honest with Shayla as I am honest with all of you, now. In this regard I am to be honest with her and all of you about magic and about the respect and role she deserves. Shayla is my daughter, our daughter, mine and Guinevere's; she is the natural heir to the throne. If ever I am to die, Guinevere is to be the ruler of Camelot. I hope this never comes to pass in that I hope to rule Camelot with her, alongside her, but if ever I am no longer around, I trust no one more than Guinevere, just as I will trust no one but Shayla when she is of age and ready to be Queen." Everyone looks now to the baby cradled in the Queen's arms. It is hard to believe that this small child will one day be grown up, a ruler of the kingdom.

"It's true, you know that? What Arthur has just told you," Gwen says now, smiling again. "Raising a child is hard work but something so rewarding I cannot imagine life without Shayla in it. I hope as my husband does that Shayla will grow up to embrace magic, to embrace the good things we hope to teach and instill in her as parents. And growing up in the open arms of Camelot with all of you, I have no doubt she'll be just fine." Everyone cheers again. Arthur and Gwen turn to each other and smile, look down to Shayla and back up to one another and smile again. Their happiness is contagious.

A/G*A/G

After the ceremony, things seem to grow even more hectic, if that's possible. The guards are doubled for this occasion, for the massiveness that is today, that is this day for Shayla. Gwen almost cries when she sees the crowds of people gathered outside the citadel. Some of them are holding candles or flowers or small gifts. Their hopeful, happy faces make her feel happy and hopeful too, more so than she already was. She knew Shayla was special; she just didn't think anyone else besides her and Arthur thought that too, let alone people who did not even know her. The realization of all the love gives her pause in the greatest way, the happiest way.

Somehow, the people's adoration of her daughter is more surprising than that of the other kings and queens, but only by a little bit. Many come from all over to celebrate Shayla, bringing the loveliest of gifts with them for her. Praise and joy are heaped upon the couple-and on Shayla of course-for the rest of the afternoon. She handles the commotion remarkably well.

For most of the beginning time following the ceremony, she is shown off and held and touched and exclaimed over as people come through the door of the council chambers. Arthur and Gwen shake hands as best they can depending on who is holding Shayla at any given time. Gwen likes that Arthur likes to hold Shayla just as much as she does; she'd been to other kingdoms before where only the Queen or a lady-in-waiting handled the child-raising. Gwen appreciated Arthur's interest in who Shayla was, how she was. The love he already had for Shayla was something he was proud of, and that made Gwen proud of him, and more in love with him than she already was, if that's possible.

On several occasions during this period of greeting people and talking and mingling with all the royalty, Arthur and Gwen are presented opportunities for Shayla-opportunities of marriage. Already! At barely two months old, Shayla receives more match-making opportunities than she'd know what to do with if she were, you know, of age and actually able to understand what was going on. Gwen wants to laugh looking at her daughter's innocent face, oblivious to these offers that could very well change her life if she and Arthur allowed them.

Merlin laughs when he sees Arthur's face go red and his eyebrows raise up at yet another hand in marriage by a King and Queen from some far-away land. They have a son, they say, a dashing one that would be oh so perfect for the Princess, one close to her age and everything. Merlin tries to hide his amusement at Arthur's polite decline of the offer, when inside he knows the King is thinking, _No way are we doing this. Shayla is not being trapped into some arranged marriage. Certainly not at this age and not ever. If there is anything I wish to teach her, it is her right to be happy. _

Merlin and the knights watch this happen. Actually, Merlin and Gaius tend to be right up there at the front of the room with Arthur and Gwen, Gaius especially, since he knows many of these old friends and alliances. So, essentially, it is the knights watching all of this happen, and is a prime example of how Merlin's role changed ever so slightly since becoming Court Sorcerer. He still is the same cheerful, quirky, funny young man he always was; now, instead of merely working_ for_ Arthur, he is woking_ with _him and Gwen, to instill a new future.

Despite this slight shift in dynamic, the knights still very much feel a part of everything in Camelot and are beginning to feel a part of Shayla's life a little bit too. Arthur brought her with him to training once, for a brief time when he stopped by on the way back to the Royal Chambers, and there Shayla got a proper introduction to all her uncles. Though it was indeed serious it was not treated as such and everyone got a kick out of it, Shayla included. They all were becoming a family.

Shayla is funny to watch, her facial expressions changing-she's getting able to recognize people familiar to her. She gets frightened if the murmur in the room grows too loud. She gets sidetracked often by the fascinating topic that is her own hands, and falls asleep in the arms of the Queen from Mercia, who happens to be the loveliest of people and one Gwen grows close to over the course of the day. The King and Queen of Mercia happen to have a daughter too, just a few months older than Shayla is. Gwen asks, and the Queen, Collete, assures her she is more than happy happy to hold and rock and walk around with Shayla in her arms for a bit before Gwen takes her and holds her and walks around and comforts her. Gwen and Arthur both grow amused at the hush that falls after, with everyone whispering for Shayla's benefit.

When Shayla wakes back up, she spends a lot of time just looking, observing all the people in the room and what they're doing, able to follow the action with her eyes now. She gets most excited around her mother or father or Merlin or Gaius-the ones that know her the best and have been around her the most. She shows her excitement by moving her cute baby feet in sort of a bicycle motion, as well as flailing her hands around a bit too. She laughs and coos and gurgles happily and is content for most of the day, being passed around from person to person to person.

Eventually, Shayla ends up in Gwen's arms again. She looks happy to be there after all that stimulation, people's voices she didn't recognize cooing at her for all that time. Merlin hides a smile when he sees her snuggle so fiercely into Gwen's shoulder with an emphasis that seems to say, "I love you, I love you, don't ever leave me, ever."

At one point around an hour later, Shayla starts to cry, become fussy again, and everyone laughs in an amused way that shows plainly their love already for the princess.

"She's tired," Gwen says apologetically to the group running a hand over the baby's head lovingly, making them all laugh warmly again. "She's had a big day." Smiles light faces again at the Queen's comment.

It's no wonder she is tired because it's true, Shayla _has_ had a big day; it is early evening, after all. The day has been full of people and conversation and baby love, and the baby's tiredness seems to be the cue for the party to wrap up. Some stay long in saying good-bye, the knights bring around all the carriages and horses for the many kings and queens. The good-byes to the King and Queen and Shayla starts again, and everyone whispers again, everyone cheerful as they depart from the castle. Arthur and Gwen stand on the castle steps, Gwen holding Shayla in her arms, waving good-bye to all those who came to celebrate with them today.

Merlin watches Shayla, settled so easily and willingly in the Queen's arms as if it the safest place she could ever be. He watches as Arthur wraps an arm around Gwen's waist. He watches as she relaxes against him, laying her head on his shoulder and he watches as they proceed back inside the castle and down the hall, watching until he can't see them anymore.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey, hey, lovely readers! **

**Thanks as usual for the reviews for chapter three. Wonderful, as usual. I'm glad you all could sense the happiness and hope and optimism. Thanks in particular to Sherri, crshore, and larasmith. **

**Thanks all of you for reading. You guys make this all so much more fun. **

**Disclaimer: don't own Merlin, still am not besties with Bradley, although I might as well be for all the Merlin commentaries I've been watching lately. **

**Anyway, thanks for reading and enjoy chapter four! **

Arthur and Guinevere: Those Sweet Simple Times

Chapter 4

A few weeks after Shayla's ceremony, Arthur returns to the Royal Chambers after the day's work at his usual time. When he gets there, he is disappointed to find his daughter already asleep.

"Sorry," Gwen says, sounding sorry and also like she might laugh at her husband's adorably disappointed face. "I tried to keep her awake for you."

"It's all right," Arthur answers absently.

"It isn't. I can see it all over your face."

Arthur turns away from her, runs a hand down his face. She is right, she is always right. He turns and goes towards the nursery. "What are you doing?" Gwen asks, walking toward him.

"Going to see my daughter."

"Arthur, if you wake her up after I spent all that time getting her to sleep, I swear, I'll-

"I won't her wake her, I assure you. I'm going to do what I said: I'm going to see her. I haven't even done _that _today." His gait hides his guilt well, but Gwen and Merlin watch him knowing the truth anyway.

When he comes back into the main room a few minutes later he has a defiant look on his face, a pleased one.

"Merlin, clear my schedule for tomorrow."

"But, sire, the meeting-

"Move it to Thursday. I am spending the day with Guinevere and Shayla."

Gwen steps towards him again, reaches out her hand. "Arthur, you don't have to-

"I do," he says, to both Gwen and Merlin. "I _will not _be one of those kings who doesn't see his family. I refuse."

Merlin and Gwen glance at one another again, look to Arthur. Gwen smiles. Merlin shakes his head.

"So, will you?"

"I will, sire," Merlin answers like the servant he always has been and still feels like and is. "I'll clear your day tomorrow."

Arthur nods, turns away from him. His cue to leave comes in the King's starting a conversation with his wife, and so Merlin turns and leaves the Pendragons to their evening.

A/G*A/G

A cry splits the night, and Arthur immediately knows it is Shayla. Gwen starts awake at the sound too. Arthur rests a warm hand on her back.

"I'll get her," he says. Gwen nods blearily and gratefully and tumbles back into sleep almost immediately. Arthur walks into the nursery, picks up a still-crying Shayla.

"Hi, Shay," he says to her, tears still trickling down her cheeks. She quiets after a few minutes, but still he sits with her in the rocking chair.

"Tomorrow I'm going to spend the day with you and your mother," he tells her after a while, enjoying the quiet, the feel of her relaxing against his chest, her breathing heavy, laced with sleep. "How does that sound?" The baby smiles sleepily at him. "I think it sounds nice too," he says quietly, answering for her.

And it did.

A/G*A/G

The next morning, Merlin arrives back to the Royal Chambers to see Catherine already there and Arthur playing with Shayla. Gwen is laughing at something Arthur has said, something Merlin doesn't catch. "Good morning, Merlin," Gwen says to him, the laughter trailing the end of her sentence.

"Morning, My Lady," he answers. "Good Morning, Catherine. Morning, Shay," he says, coming over to Arthur.

"See, Shayla, this is your Uncle Merlin," Arthur says, turning the baby towards him. "Late again, I might add."

"Hey, I'm only late because I was busy doing chores for you." The baby blinks up at him, her brown eyes curious, watching.

"If you weren't always in the tavern, they'd get done sooner, wouldn't they?"

"Hey, you know that I'm not actually in the tavern like you always say."

"No, Merlin, actually I don't. Unlike you, I never go in the tavern. Do I, Shay?" The King asks after a moment, looking at his daughter in his arms.

"Oh, yeah, like I trust you speaking for Shayla," Merlin says sarcastically with an eye-roll. "If she could talk, she'd totally be on my side about this."

"If she could talk, she'd trust no one's word but mine."

"If she could talk," Gwen says, cutting in on the conversation, taking Shayla from Arthur's grasp with a smile, "she'd say you're both being silly." This makes both men look at one another, in silent agreement that Gwen is, as always, right again.

A/G*A/G

Only a couple of hours later, Merlin watches Arthur and Gwen come out of the castle and onto the castle steps. They are holding hands. Gwen looks back and Merlin sees why: because Catherine has Shayla. Arthur says something to make all of them laugh that Merlin doesn't hear. That's because he's too busy setting up the one-person carriage Gwen will ride in, that Shayla will ride in too. It was light and small, with a covering in a rich red color, the seat inside plush, with a curtain to hang over the little side door that only took up half of the space, making an open window. It was safe but simple, perfect for a serving girl who became Queen who had a baby. Gwen was to sit inside the carriage, Shayla in her lap. Arthur checks everything over-the wheels, the carriage itself, the seat inside-even though he'd already asked Merlin to do yesterday.

"I already did that, you know."

"I know, but I really don't trust your checking over such a vehicle of transportation."

"Like you've ever built anything in your life," Merlin scoffs. "You didn't even build this! The stable hands did!"

Arthur ignores his servant, saying instead slowly and carefully in the way he did when he thought Merlin wasn't the brightest bulb, which was all too often, remnant of the early days of their friendship, and everyday of their friendship: "I'm the King, this was made for the Queen and the Princess, and as the King, I have a right to check said carriage as many times as I wish."

"So you're an expert on carriages now?"

"I'm an expert at giving you orders, and I told you to check this over."

"I did already! That's what I said!"

'Well, I'm checking it again!" Arthur says, his voice raised, nearly at a roar, making Gwen laugh.

"Honestly, you two," she says with a shake of her head. "It's like I've got three children instead of just one."

"Hey!" Arthur and Merlin protest in unison.

Still, Arthur takes her hand as she steps inside the carriage, gets situated. She turns sideways, reaches her hands out for her daughter, who is handed to her by Catherine.

"All set?" Arthur asks, peering into the carriage from the window.

"Yes, I think we are." She looks fondly down at their daughter, smiles.

"Good." He takes her hand, squeezes it warmly in affection. "All set, Merlin?" she hears Arthur call to his servant, and she can't help but smirk to herself. As important as she and Shayla were to him-the most important things, he always insisted; whether or not he said this to make her smile or out of truthfulness alone she didn't know-Gwen knew there would always be a place for Merlin too. She hoped he knew that. She thought that he did.

After Arthur checks everything over with the guards and with Merlin and with Catherine, who then mount their own horses, the carriage was attached to the horse's reigns and Arthur mounted the horse and they were off. Gwen felt happy; usually it was she standing on the castle steps waving good-bye, now she looked back to see only the guards. Unbeknownst to her or anyone else, someone other than the guards was about to head into the castle, someone with a dark and bitter plan to enact.

Gwen was unaware of this, however. She was too preoccupied being happy and glad. She was glad to be going the same place Arthur was going, finally. It was then she recognized it was their first outing as a family, all three of them, and she felt glad again. After a few minutes, Arthur surprises her when he slows down to a stop, gets off his horse, comes to her, peers in the window again. He asks if the pace is OK, he doesn't want to be going too fast, he says, for Shayla, and she smiles again at his consideration.

"It's just fine," she assures him. "Thank you for asking."

"Thank you giving me a reason to ask," he answers smoothly.

He kisses her and Merlin hollers, "Hey! Are we going to go somewhere or are we just going to stand around watching you guys kiss?"

"I'm going, I'm going," Arthur says, making Gwen laugh, and he mounts the horse again and off they go.

After a while, Gwen settles back into her seat; she's never been in a carriage before. If she needed to get anyplace, she'd walk and, later, ride. She watches the forest flit past her in a sea of lovely greens and browns, bright colorings of flowers sprinkled in there every once and a while too. She watches Shayla watch for a while too and then watches as she falls asleep in her lap, totally comfortable, completely content. Gwen marvels again at the way which Shayla so easily gives herself up to sleep.

She thinks she must've fallen off into sleep too because when they get there, the abrupt halting of the carriage, as unabrupt as it probably really is, jolts her awake, leaving her dazed and blinking. Arthur sees this, sees Shayla with the same expression on her face and smiles to himself. Like mother, like daughter, after all. He goes over to the carriage, opens the door, helps Gwen step out, Shayla in her arms.

"She's sleeping," Gwen says in a lovely quiet voice. They laugh quietly together, watching her.

"I think someone else was sleeping too," Arthur says also in a lovely low voice, his eyebrows raised.

"I was not," Gwen insists. A smile twitches at the corners of her mouth.

"I think you were. Just admit it."

"OK, so I was," she says, the smile finally surfacing on her mouth. "That's only because I was up last night with _your_ daughter."

"_My_ daughter? _Our _daughter, Guinevere. And besides, hey, I got up with her too."

"And for that I thank you so very much." Arthur sloppily stamps a kiss to her temple before she can say anything else, sweeping Shayla into his arms, carrying her with him as they jaunt down the path to the clearing. Gwen hangs back for a moment, watching them. If Arthur always insists she and Shayla are his two most important things, she'd insist that he and Shayla were hers.

A/G*A/G

Everything gets set up in the clearing in the usual Arthur/Gwen date fashion by Catherine and Merlin shortly after they arrive. It was a perfect summer day, sunny with a perfectly mild temperature, a little humid, even. Gwen loved the feeling of the warm air, of the sunshine on her face.

They all eat and talk together, Arthur, Gwen, Catherine, Merlin. Oh, and Shayla too, of course. It is interesting in this way; away from Camelot, they get to be four friends and a family instead of King and Queen and Princess and Sorcerer and Servant. Shayla eats too-she and Gwen are given privacy for that in the comfort of the carriage-and not long after she has eaten and burped and all of that, she sinks into sleep, yet again. She is wrapped in a blanket and kept out of the sun and in the carriage for the duration of her nap, the curtain left open, so she wouldn't grow too warm. This forces the conversation to quiet, but they continue to have a nice time together anyhow. Merlin hunts around for herbs for Gaius.

"Merlin, why do that when you can just...make a potion?" Gwen asks after watching him for a while.

"I don't know," he answers, shrugging. "I still like to do it for him. i like the challenge. He always looks so...pleased when I come home with them. I guess I am still in habit of doing things the ordinary way."

Gwen nods. Nothing Merlin ever did would be normal; he was much too exceptional and awesome to ever be normal. She tells him this and he blushes.

"Do not flatter him so, Guinevere," Arthur says. "We don't need an egotistical man among us."

"Yes, it's not like you don't know anything about that already," Merlin says, laughing. Arthur glares at him, leaving Catherine and Gwen laughing too.

The conversation slows after that and they just lie there, thinking, all of them content, listening to nature.

"It looks like rain," Arthur says after a while, looking on the horizon. "A storm, perhaps."

"I always loved storms when I was a kid," Gwen offers, relaxing against him.

"Me too."

They get up and pack up their things. And it turns out Arthur is right because the nearer they get to the citadel, the darker the sky grows, the storm seeming to be chasing them home. Rain is dumped from the sky, falling in sheets by the time they reach the court-yard. Arthur helps Gwen with Shayla out of the carriage, throws his cape over them both as he ushers them up the steps and into the warm and dry comfort of the castle. Merlin sees Catherine home through the rain, both of them running and running, and then he goes home too, to Gaius.

A/G*A/G

Not less than an hour afterwards, a knock sounds on the doors of the Royal Chambers.

"Enter," Arthur intones, rising from his desk, and Sir Leon steps inside. "Sire," he says. "My Lady," he adds, seeing Gwen in the rocking chair with Shayla.

"What is it, Leon?"

"Yes, what's going on?" Gwen asks.

"Checking over things for the upcoming banquet," Leon answers. "Only a few more details left to sort out." Gwen nods. Arthur puts a hand on her arm, his silent way of letting her know he'll be back soon, and walks out of the RC with Sir Leon.

A/G*A/G

Zelda-the ominous figure in black that no one saw sneak into the citadel earlier with that bitter plan to put into place-stole into the Royal Chambers the second the King exited. His absence was pure luck. She'd been waiting around for hours and this was her chance!

She silences Gwen first thing, covering her mouth with her hand, annoyed already by her shrieks and protests. With her shouts muffled, she casts a spell making Gwen unable to speak or move. With that completed, she give her a potion, rendering her unconscious, just for good measure. She drags Gwen over to the closet, stuffs her inside, slams the door.

Zelda smiles widely, enjoying how well her plan is falling into place so far. Now that _she's_ out of the way, Zelda casts another spell, on herself, one which changes her appearance to be that of Gwen's. She goes over to where she'd plopped Shayla in the crib and stands over it, grinning wickedly in all her triumph this far. Shayla cries and cries, her baby instincts sensing someone other than her mother around her, someone unfamiliar despite the identical appearance. Zelda snarls, prays that the baby of all people won't be the one to blow her cover. Arthur comes back in the RC as she tries to leave with Shayla, leaving Zelda-as-Gwen to paste a phony smile on her face.

"You'll never guess what they're planning as the main course for the banquet," Arthur says.

"Oh, what would that be?"

"Scallops." A delicacy in Camelot, not something Gwen grew up with, hence something she didn't care for, not even as an adult. He watches her face, waiting for her reaction and his face clouds when he hears it.

"That sounds...lovely."

"You don't want to request something else? You hate scallops."

"What? Oh, right, of course," Zelda-as-Gwen says absently.

She jostles the baby, embarrassed and unnerved over the child's constant crying, tries to act nonchalant as she heads towards the door again. Arthur watches her, steps in front of the door of the Royal Chambers.

"Where are you going?"

"Oh, to find the...nursemaid. To feed the baby, you know. All this crying must mean she's hungry." She tries to smile again, but ends up looking silly. Despite this, she slips past the King quickly and sails out of the room. Arthur watches her walk out of the RC with Shayla with narrowed eyes.

Out of pure coincidence, Merlin comes across them in the corridor a few seconds later.

"Hey, Gwen," he says perkily as usual to her, to Zelda-as-Gwen, only to get pulled into the Royal Chambers by Arthur, who puts him against the wall, a hand to his mouth, telling him to be quiet.

"What's going on? Where is Gwen going?" He asks after Arthur lets him free.

"Oh, to find the nursemaid. You know, to feed Shayla."

"OK," Merlin says simply.

"No, it's not OK!" Arthur roars. "We don't _have_ a nursemaid! You know this! And Guinevere _never_ has to leave the room, not to feed Shayla of all things."

Merlin studies the King's face. "I'm confused," he says finally. "What's going on here, exactly?"

"I don't know," Arthur admits shortly. "I'd say confused is something you always are, Merlin, but this time I am too so you have to help me figure this out."

"Figure what out? So Gwen and Shayla left the room? The only problem was Gwen didn't give her to me."

"Didn't you sense something...off...about her as you passed her just now?"

"What? No. Why?"

"She's not herself. I can tell."

"Arthur, you're so unobservant, she's even wearing the same dress."

"Shayla is crying," Arthur says, trying to explain.

"She does that all that time."

"She didn't want to have the main course changed for the banquet. It's scallops."

"Well, why would she? I love scallops too."

Arthur sighs, frustrated. "_Guinevere_ doesn't. Don't you understand? She didn't want to change it. She _always_ wants to change it, request an alternative. She left the room to do whatever with Shayla. She _never_ leaves the room to do whatever with Shayla. Something's off, I'm telling you. Just come with me," Arthur says finally, tugging Merlin out of the Royal Chambers and into the hallway. It is dim and dark, only clumps of light coming from candles. Zelda-as-Gwen's footfalls echo off the high ceilings. Merlin and Arthur follow her, arguing quietly.

"It_ looks_ like Gwen, though," Merlin insists.

"It's isn't," Arthur insists, his voice flat. "You aren't married so you wouldn't understand. It's not Gwen; I can't tell you how I know, but I know."

A/G*A/G

Meanwhile, Zelda-as-Gwen walks through the corridors, no knowledge of Arthur and Merlin trailing behind her, watching her. The crying of the child had yet to cease and Zelda-as-Gwen was growing annoyed.

"Just be quiet, will you?" Zelda-as-Gwen bursts out finally in a girlish, frustrated screech.

"See?" Arthur says barely above a whisper. "Not Guinevere at all."

"Man, you _are_ good," Merlin barely whispers back.

"Well, I should be, she is my wife you know, not to mention the mother of my child."

"You said that already."

"Just come on," Arthur says and Merlin does what he always does and follows after the King.

A/G*A/G

"We've got to do something to get Shayla back," Merlin says as they continue to creep down the length of the corridor, keeping a close eye on this Gwen look-alike.

"What should we do?" Even though he asked, Arthur already has a plan. He's going to kill or mortally wound or do whatever to this Gwen-look-alike lady and get his daughter back to safety. Arthur draws his sword, tense, ready.

"Well, we can't use magic. Or your sword."

"What? Why? What else could we do?"

Merlin sighs, feels glad to feel smart again. "We have to figure out some way of stopping whatever she has planned without hurting Shayla in the process."

Arthur nods. "We need to get closer to her, corner her somehow."

They speed up their pace. As they do, Zelda-as-Gwen does too.

"Going in search of Catherine, are you, Gwen?" Arthur asks, jumping in front of Zelda-as-Gwen, surprising her, stopping her in her place before she regains her bearings and starts walking again, trying to remain nonchalant.

"Yes, yes, that's right," Zelda-as-Gwen answers. She pushes past the King, keeps walking.

"Shouldn't you know her house is all the way in the lower town? What do you need her for to feed Shayla, anyway?"

"Oh, just-um, you see-"

"I do, I do see. I see you're clearly not my actual wife, but that you do have my actual daughter, so hand her over."

"Never!" Zelda cries out, and high-tails it down the corridor, clutching Shayla close to her. Arthur races after her, finally cornering her at the end of the hallway. At this point, both Arthur and Merlin run at her from both sides.

"Arthur! Look out!" Merlin yells as he comes closer to Zelda, but he ignores his servant and progresses towards her so that he runs in front of her. This again startles and distracts her, leaving Merlin able to transport himself with magic close to Zelda-as-Gwen, able to reach his arm just out far enough, and thus able to grab Shayla, pluck her out and away from Zelda's grasp. Seeing this, Arthur immediately runs over to Shayla, spends a couple seconds checking over her.

"Are you all right?" Arthur asks her, even though she can't respond. He hugs Shayla close to him, nearly going limp with relief, surprised by how frightened he felt when he saw her in peril. "I'm sorry. Daddy's sorry," he says, not caring that Merlin just heard him say that, not caring about anything but the baby in his arms. He smoothes a hand over her head in fatherly affection. When this is done, they both glance up to find Zelda gone.

"What happened?" Arthur yells. "Where did she go?"

"I don't know. All I do know is I sense magic in her. Dark magic. The real questions is," Merlin says, glancing at the Princess, "what could she want with Shayla?"

Arthur glances down at his daughter too, saying after a moment, "We never even saw what she looked like. What she _really_ looked like, I mean."

"She obviously didn't get what she wanted," Merlin says now, his tone grave. "She's going to be back." If Arthur is at all frightened by that possibility he doesn't show it. After all, as he's said before, he's a warrior, you learn to control your fear and all that. But Merlin really knows by the look on his face when he saw Zelda have Shayla that his need to protect his family went above everything else.

"We need to find Gwen, the real Gwen."

And that sends Merlin yelling. "Everyone, find Gwen!" he says, and runs around checking in all the rooms. Arthur stands back to watch, Shayla in his arms still, bored, but letting him finish.

"Why aren't you telling everyone to search?" Merlin is out of breath when he gets back to the King. If anything, it shows him his servant's dedication to him, and to his friendship with Gwen.

"Because I don't have to. You just didn't give me a chance to tell you that."

"So then where is she?"

"In the chambers, of course. Or near them. That's the last place she was, I wasn't gone but ten minutes; whatever that woman did, there wasn't a lot of time to stash Gwen somewhere so she could grab Shayla. There aren't many place you could _fit_ a grown person, anyhow, besides a place in the chambers."

Merlin nods lamely, feeling not-smart again.

They charge down the hallway to the Royal Chambers, and find her where Arthur said she'd be. In a closet, actually. He checks under the bed-she's not there. He checks behind the dressing screen-not there. He checks the closet-and gives Merlin a flat expression that says plainly he is King Arthur and that He. Is. Right. Because there she is. Curled up, unconscious, is Gwen.

"See, Merlin? This is why you don't give the orders. If I'd trusted you, Gwen would still be some evil woman after my baby."

"There's dark magic here," he answers seriously, ignoring Arthur's comment, putting a hand to Gwen's forehead. "I'm guessing the potion given to her will wear off eventually, in a couple of hours or so; do you want me to make up something even so?"

"No, she needs the rest; I want to Shayla to myself for a while anyway."

"You're never going to trust me with her again, are you? In fear I might accidentally mistakes the real Gwen for a fake Gwen and hand Shayla over to dark and powerful magic?"

"Yep, pretty much," Arthur answers. He scoops Gwen up off the floor, lays her gently on their bed.

"Are you going to tell her?"

"Why do you always ask me that?"

"How do you mean?"

"You asked me that same question after I beat up those two brutes who tortured her, if I was going to tell her or not. Why this insistence on telling her things? Painful things?"

"I just think honesty is the best policy. The key to marriage, some say."

"Merlin, wouldn't you think I'm the one who's more experienced in the whole marriage thing?"

"Yes, sire. Do you need me to stay here with you?" He asks after a moment.

"No, Shayla and I will be fine by ourselves until Guinevere wakes up."

"You're sure?"

"Yes, Merlin."

"OK, because if you're not-

"I am."

"All right, then," Merlin says, and he leaves the RC. He comes back about two seconds later, pokes his head in the door. "So, are you going to tell her?"

"Yes, Merlin, all right? I will," Arthur says, frustrated. "That's all I needed to hear," his servant says, and ducks out of the room before he receives a boot to the head or some other thing hurled at him. Not that Arthur could with Shayla in his arms, but he doesn't doubt the King's ability to throw objects at him nonetheless.

A/G*A/G

Gwen begins to stir awake long after Shayla has officially gone to bed for the night, not that she won't be up in a matter of hours anyway.

"Arthur?' She says softly, slowly sitting up, putting a hand to her head. "Why I am on the bed? What happened?"

"What do you remember?' He asks quietly, coming over and sitting next to her, holding her hand.

"There was a woman," Gwen starts to say slowly, everything coming into focus now. "Yes, a woman...I tried-I remember shouting...and then...nothing. Darkness." As more begins to dawn on her, she becomes more alert, her eyes widening. "Oh, my God, Shayla," she says, her eyes filling with worry and panic and also some tears. "Where is she?"

"Relax, relax she's all right," Arthur says, smoothing her hair back to soothe her. "She's sleeping in her crib in the nursery like always."

"Nothing happened to her, did it? She's OK?"

"Yes, she is just fine, I assure you."

Gwen nods. Arthur slowly helps her to her feet, wraps an arm around her waist to steady her. He leads her over to a chair at the table, which she sinks into. He hands her a goblet of water, which she sips slowly.

"What happened?" she asks again. When he looks hesitant, she reaches for his hand across the table. "Please tell me the truth," she says, and the look on her face makes him want to and not want to all at once.

"There was a woman, like you said. She...apparently, drugged you with some kind of magical potion, gave herself one so she'd look like you, and she...took Shalya." Gwen gasps, Arthur squeezes her hand harder. "Don't worry, Merlin and I followed her and stopped her and got Shayla back."

"And the woman?"

Arthur shakes his head, the shame ganging up behind his eyes. "We don't know. We only saw her as a look-alike of you, so we have no idea what she actually looks like."

"How did she even get here, into the citadel?"

Anther head shake, more shame, some guilt. "I don't know," Arthur says again, because he didn't. Seeing her tight, miserable, worried face makes him want to lighten her mood, any way he can. "Oh, and by the way," he starts to say in the way of this, "you missed something really important pertaining to the banquet."

"And what is that?"

"We're having scallops as part of the main course."

"Ugh, not again!" She says in a cute child-like way, putting her hands over her eyes in all the horror, and with that, Arthur knows for sure the real Gwen is back, safe and sound, just as Shayla is.


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey, lovely readers. **

**Thanks as usual for the reviews for chapter 4. Glad you all enjoyed it! **

**Disclaimer, like always: Merlin isn't mine, Bradley doesn't have any idea of my existence at all. The usual, pretty much-the usual pretty much always-and yet I still am so sad about it. The good news I have a whole 65 episodes of Merlin to be consoled by. **

**Thanks as always for reading and enjoy chapter 5, guys! **

Arthur and Guinevere: Those Sweet Simple Times

Chapter 5

"And that's the last of it, I think. Thank you, everyone, for attending this council session," Arthur says. He immediately turns to Gwen, gives her a hand to help her from her throne chair, even though she doesn't need any. She takes his hand anyway, squeezes it warmly.

When the meeting is adjourned, Merlin says, "I'm headed through the lower town. To grab some supplies for Gaius."

"I'll go with you," Gwen offers.

"Take Guinevere and Shayla with you," Arthur immediately commands. "Guard them with your life." He kisses Gwen lightly on the mouth and then departs from the council chambers.

"Yes, sire," Merlin answers seriously, but he smiles at the two of them when they're out of the King's ear-shot. "Is it just me, or is he more overprotective than usual?"

Gwen shakes her head as she grips the handle of Shayla's pram. It is bumpy along the gravel to the lower town; she hopes it isn't jostling the baby too much. "It is _not_ just you. It's this whole thing-

"With that woman," Merlin interjects. Gwen nods.

"It's been three days since it happened and still Arthur has everyone on high alert."

"With good reason," Merlin says quietly, and then fears he shouldn't have.

"I don't blame you," Gwen says.

"I-I couldn't use magic. Arthur, being Arthur, wanted to charge in there with his sword but we couldn't. We couldn't risk harming Shayla in the process. Now when I think about it, I realize I could've done so many things-cast a reverse spell, maybe, to reverse the spell she put on herself and reveal her true identity. Or freeze her so she couldn't run away, but we were so concerned about Shayla that by the time we looked up-

"She had gone," Gwen says. "I know. Arthur told me. And believe me, he feels wretched about it too. More so than you, probably."

"Also with good reason," Merlin says, louder this time, so Gwen hears.

"How do you mean?"

"It's you and Shayla. You and that baby are the two most precious things in Arthur's life and he watched how quickly they could be taken or harmed by someone else. If it were me, I'd feel pretty guilty too. You can't blame him for that."

"I don't, like I said. It's just something that happened."

Gwen looks down at the baby in the pram, gazing at her thoughtfully in the way she guessed all mothers gazed at their children. Who in their right mind would want to take a child? Possibly harm that child? She shudders now, the thought of Shayla being taken from her gripping her again.

Merlin sees this and asks, "Are you cold?"

"Yes," Gwen answers as she tries to shove the thought away. That's what she was, or at least, that's what she told Merlin she was: "Cold."

A/G*A/G

"You barely let go of Shayla at all yesterday, not even when _I_ wanted to hold her. Come on," Gwen says after a moment. "Admit it. You _are_ worried."

"All right, so I am," Arthur offers reluctantly, turing away from her, running a hand down his face, the truth settling over him. "I hate the idea of someone being able to break in here," he says after a moment.

"We cannot live our lives in fear, Arthur. We didn't let the threat of Morgana keep us from being happy, did we?"

"That was different."

"How?" Gwen says, laughing at the mere possibility. "How on earth was that different?"

"_She_ never succeeded," Arthur says flatly. "For all her efforts, Merlin as Emrys beat her very easily. This...woman, whoever she was-

"-Didn't succeed either," Gwen answers, coming over to him, wrapping an arm around his arm, leaning in to him for a second before letting go. "You and Merlin stopped her, too. That_ was_ the truth of the matter, right? Isn't that what you told me?"

"Yes, Guinevere, it was, but-

"But nothing. You are a warrior, Arthur The greatest. I trust _you_, remember? More than I ever did your father-

"More than any man," Arthur says, finishing the statement with her.

"That's right. I _still_ do."

"That's why you're not worried, then."

Gwen nods. "Yes. I don't like to think about what would've happened had you and Merlin not been there, but for the most part I am not concerned."

"For the most part?"

"_Someone's_ got to be the reassuring one around here. I figured that was my job. For you."

"And one you do so well." Gwen blushes at his comment, looks down at the floor before looking to face her husband again. "Nothing will ever happen to Shayla again," Arthur says after a moment, his voice low.

"I know," Gwen says. "I know that."

And she did.

A/G*A/G

So much so-did she know Shayla was safe, I mean-that she found herself growing slightly annoyed at the constant array of knights following her everywhere she went. Correction: everywhere she went, but everywhere she and Shayla went too.

"I am a _grown_ person," Gwen says, exasperated, to Leon finally one late-August morning. "I can look after myself. And Shayla," she adds stubbornly, glancing down at her daughter.

Sir Leon smiles an amused smile at her, which only makes her want to scowl more but the look on his face makes her not be able to. "Gwen, don't you see? Why do you think Merlin's sent anywhere you or Shayla go?"

"Because he's Arthur's servant? Not to mention my actual good friend?"

Leon shakes his head, grows serious. "Those things may be true, but in this instance, it's different."

"How?" Gwen asks hotly. She ignores the irony that comes with knowing she and Arthur had a very similar conversation only days earlier. "How it is different?"

"I don't have magic. Neither does Gwaine or Percival. Neither does the King. Arthur knows if something were to happen, Merlin could protect you and Shayla in ways he couldn't."

"Oh," she says quietly. "The magic. Right."

"He loves you," Leon offers simply. "Both of you. Certainly enough to be man enough to admit his own inadequacy in not possessing magic and allowing Merlin to look out for you."

"That's true," Gwen says quietly. She suddenly feels a bit silly for feeling so stubbornly upset over the whole thing like she was.

"Arthur was never one to forsake his pride if he could help it. Remember?"

"I do," Gwen says, laughing a little remembering her husband's days as the pompous prince of Camelot. And now look what he was! "He's come a long way, hasn't he?"

"He has," Leon says. 'You have too. We all have."

"Indeed we have," Gwen says, and then Leon pushes open the doors of the Royal Chambers so Gwen can wheel Shayla inside. "Thank you," she says, turning around to face Sir Leon after she's picked Shayla up out of the pram. "Thanks for this. We didn't really solve anything, but talking about it...helped, somehow."

"I'm glad. I'm always happy to talk with you, Gwen."

"And I with you."

"Talk to your husband. And remember, the love," Leon says, putting a hand to his heart.

"The love," Gwen echoes, looking down at the child in her arms. She smiles.

The thought runs around her brain. The love. The _love_.

A/G*A/G

"Hi," Gwen says quietly when Arthur enters the Royal Chambers shortly after lunch.

"Hi," Arthur answers, kisses her on the cheek. "Shayla asleep?"

"Out like a light. For now, anyway," Gwen answers, smiling a tight smile. "Arthur, we have to talk. About Shayla, I mean. About-

"What happened," Arthur finishes. "Yes, I know." And then the words pour from his mouth in a guilt-ridden rush that makes Gwen feel small, ugly inside: "Guinevere, you cannot know the panic I felt when I realized that you and Shayla had been taken or harmed or whatever had happened."

"I think I can," she offers quietly. "I imagine I'd feel the exact same."

"Then why this insistence on not living in fear? You sound so...OK about all of this."

"Oh, God, no. I'm just that great of an actress. You maybe don't know this, but later that same night, I crept out of bed and sat with Shayla in the nursery for hours, just looking at her, practically clutching her to me in worry that she'd be taken again."

"I wish you would've told me that."

"I didn't want to concern you. And besides, as I told Merlin, it's just something that happened."

"Guinevere,_ you_ are my biggest concern. You and Shayla."

This makes her smile a little. "I know," she says, reaching out a hand to caress his face. "I know that, and I love you so much for it, truly I do." It was true, she did. There was nothing more romantic to her than a man in love with his family the way Arthur was.

That should be enough, shouldn't it? She'd told him only days ago how much trust she held in him, reminded him of the warrior that he was.

So why did she feel so frightened? Why didn't she tell him the full extent of her anxieties? Because the truth was, she was plenty concerned-about Shayla, that is-and didn't know how to admit it, especially after she had been so annoyed by his overprotectiveness like the terrible person she felt like and probably was. Thinking about the fact that Arthur so plainly did-admit his feelings, no matter what they were-made her for the first time understand what it truly was to be brave. And also what it was to not be.

A/G*A/G

Merlin enters the RC a few mornings later to hear Shayla crying and crying, Gwen holding her, walking around and around in circles in an attempt to calm her down.

"What's wrong?" he asks.

"Shayla's a little upset this morning," Arthur answers shortly.

"Oh, God," Gwen says finally. "I can't take it. I can't listen to her cry anymore." She looks ready to follow Shayla's lead and sob.

"Let me take her," Arthur offers, putting a hand on his wife's arm, easing the baby into his arms. This leaves Gwen empty-handed and able to turn around and put her head in her hands.

"You're not a bad mother, Gwen," Merlin offers after giving her a few seconds to collect herself.

"How did you know-?"

"We've been friends a long time," Merlin says simply.

Gwen nods. "We have," she agrees.

"And as your friend, I'm asking you to trust me on this: you're a great mother. Certainly the best one I know, apart my own mother, of course," he says, making Gwen smile. "It's just new. You'll get the hang of this, I'm sure of it."

"Thank you," Gwen says, smiling softly again. He may have no experience with parenthood, but Merlin was and always had been good at cheering her up. She was especially glad he was here this morning, at this moment. If had hadn't been, she imagined things would've grown tense, both she and Arthur worrying about Shayla and not talking about any of it. Gwen hugs Merlin now, thankful for his company. When they break apart, Arthur gives Merlin a look that says, thanks for stealing my thunder. Merlin merely shrugs. Gwen sees this and laughs. She leans into Arthur, who puts an arm around her shoulders, while Shayla still cries and cries. Arthur laughs too, and then all three of them are laughing, at the everyday hilarity of the whole situation, at the good and bad that is their life. The worry for Shayla has faded if only for this second and the love and joy of her and for her has rightfully swooped in to replace it.

When Shayla does finally quiet, Arthur still holds her, sits in the rocking chair with her.

After a while, Merlin says, "When she wakes, let me take her."

Gwen immediately shakes her head. "No, I couldn't-

"You could," Arthur says dryly to to his wife. "You need sleep."

"This coming from the man who had an iron-grip on Shayla no less than two days ago," Gwen says in that same flat tone, folding her arms across her chest where she stands by the table, comes over closer to the rocking chair.

Arthur shakes his head. "I _trust_ Merlin, Guinevere."

"I do too. That's not the issue. All the irony is."

"The sleep is the issue, I think," Arthur says. "Something you need."

"Do I really look that bad?"

"Of course not," Arthur answers like the dutiful husband he is, reaching out to tug at her hand, squeezing it to prove his point.

"Look, I'll take her for a few hours," Merlin says. "Then I'll bring her back and you can have all the sleepless baby-time fun you want."

This makes Gwen smile again.

"All right," she finally says.

Arthur rolls his eyes. "That worked but my compliment didn't. Great."

"Compliment? A husband telling his wife she looks sleep-deprived is _not_ a compliment, my friend," Gwen says saucily to Arthur. This makes Merlin laugh.

"She's right, you know," he says.

"Of course she is," Arthur says, and Gwen knows if he hadn't been holding Shayla this would've been the point at which his hands were thrown in the air in frustration. This makes her hide a smile. "Guinevere's always right."

"Now _you're_ right, because I am. Always right, I mean."

"I just can't win, can I?" Arthur murmurs to himself.

"Nope, you can't," Gwen and Merlin say together. They start to laugh again, quietly; Arthur starts to laugh quietly too as he gets up to put Shayla in her crib in the nursery.

When he gets back they are still laughing.

A/G*A/G

"Hi," Gwen says softly from her position in the rocking chair as Arthur enters the Royal Chambers a few days later. She had been feeding Shayla, a blanket tossed over her right shoulder, covering herself and Shayla to protect the privacy of the two of them during this time, their time together, even if she didn't necessarily have to being in their chambers and all. "She always falls asleep," she offers in barely above a whisper. Arthur nods, smiles, leans down to kiss her cheek. After a few more minutes of rocking her, she gets up, gives Shayla to Arthur, holds up the front of her dress with one hand, the blanket with the other, ducks behind the screen so Catherine can button the back of her dress. After that is done, Gwen is about to take Shayla from Arthur so she can finish her nap, but he beats her to it, saying, "I'll put her down," and heads into the nursery to do just that, Catherine following behind him; she'd been assigned, by Arthur of course, to watch Shayla as she slept as well as when she awoke.

When he gets back, he sits down at his desk to write a speech, but doesn't get very far, his mind wandering, thoughts of Shayla and that evil woman whirling around in his brain, still, always.

"Have they found anything?" Gwen asks, reading his mind like the wife she is. "About the woman?"

Arthur shakes his head. "No," he replies. "Nothing." His voice is scratchy, catching on all the guilt lodged in his throat. "It's hard to do any searching when we don't know what she really looks like."

"So, what are we supposed to do? What are we going to do? Just sit and wait until she comes back here and tries to abduct our daughter again?" The shakiness of her voice surprises her. The emotion gangs up behind her temples, making her head throb.

"Guinevere," Arthur says in a low voice. He gets up and goes over to her.

"I tried to stay rational about the whole thing, thinking, you know, that she got maybe a few feet down the corridor before you and Merlin stopped her, but-but-" To her horror, her lip starts to tremble, an ache starts in her throat. "I _love _Shayla," she says finally, desperately. "I love her." The tears start trickling down her cheeks as Arthur envelopes her, coming in front of her so that she may rest her head on his chest, her head fitting perfectly beneath his.

"I know you do," he says, pressing a kiss into her hair. "I love her too."

"I'm contradicting myself," she says, the guilt tugging at her, pulling her away from her husband. She holds both of his hands. "One minute I'm saying I trust you, telling you how not-worried I am, the next I'm annoyed over your wonderful overprotectiveness, and the next I'm a mess."

"That doesn't mean that you don't, though, Guinever," Arthur tells her. "I know very well you trust me. It's the one thing that's made me trust in myself all these years. This...it's different. It's _Shayla_. Honestly, I'd be more concerned if you weren't worried. I was slightly worried before, actually. When you weren't a mess like me."

"We're messes together, then I guess, now," she says, smiling tearfully at him.

"Is _that_ what parents are?"

"Yes, I think," she says.

"I second that," Arthur says, kissing her on the mouth.

And so they were. Parents, lovers, friends. That is what they were. And what they always would be.

"The mess thing, I don't think it'll ever go away," Gwen says after a moment. "Because we'll always be parents. Shayla's parents. The worry will never leave us. I mean, hopefully the worry over this particular incident will at some point-

"It will," Arthur assures her. "I promise you. Like Merlin said, you're not a bad mother, Guinevere. You're the greatest mother, because you're Shayla's mother. The mother of my child." This makes tears well up in Gwen's eyes again, slip down her cheeks.

"I love being Shayla's mother. I love that you are her father. I love our family."

"I do too," Arthur answers, finally letting go just as Gwen did, burying his face in her hair, his last phrase muffled by it. "I do too."


End file.
